Mile 19: From Russia, with Love (Part I)

After 5 days of sailing from London to Russia (with a lot of teaching, guest lecturing, writing center-ing, orientating, prepping, and mingling in between), and passing the very long and beautiful Kiel Canal in the process, we arrived at our first port, St. Petersburg! The view from my cabin window looked out onto the city and I could see Russian architecture and a slew of military-like officials at the port (no photo of them here since we had strict orders not to photograph them). I had preconceived notions of Russia (how can one not!) but the cultural and logistical pre-port lectures on the ship had really enlightened me on the current political and social situations in Russia. We were warned of pickpockets, non-smiling passersby, and a slight sense of hostility towards Americans.

Since I had not acquired a Russian visa, and thus could not travel on land independently, I purchased a number of Semester at Sea programs to see the city (we couldn’t leave the ship without a guided tour). On the first day, I packed water, rubles, snacks, my passport, ID, camera, vitamins, a jacket, lip gloss and a sign that read “Hi Umesh Masa” (more on that later) before heading down to Union to meet my first tour: A Walking Tour of STP. I had been chosen as a bus liaison for this trip, which meant that I would lead one of the buses of students through the city and make sure not to lose anyone (I got a hefty discount for this role). Zoe (another bus liaison and also a WC TA) and I checked in about 100 students on the trip and then we boarded three buses to begin our tour. We drove through the streets of STP and Helen, our guide (each bus had one), began to narrate the history of the city and our first stop, the infamous Hermitage Museum and the Winter Palace (below).

I was unprepared for the enormity of the Winter Palace – what an incredible place. The ornate exterior decorated in pale aqua and gold trimmings commands attention and awe. The square outside was littered with picture takers, tour guides salesmen, pigeons and some local Russians hurriedly scurrying to their jobs. I couldn’t take it all in – it was too large for human perception. As we traipsed through the expansive museum, some rooms seemed minimalistic in their design while others put the word “lavish” to shame. There were tributes to Rembrandt, lovely costumes of the Russian era, Greek revival style armor, paintings by Goya, Matisse, Degas and Cezanne but no Russian art was housed in this massive place (odd, no?). We spent two hours in the Hermitage and while the intricacies of the art left me very curious, I began to feel the heaviness of history in the place. So much was housed and preserved here, and so much was left out. We barely saw the first floor of the museum before leaving. Was this a tourist attraction or a purposeful moniker to Russian opulence? Was it meant to impress or recall?

Our guide pointed us to a traditional Russian pierogi pie restaurant and about 30 of us headed there for lunch. I devoured a perfectly good mushroom pie and savored the velvety texture of the cream cheese pie as well (couldn’t resist really). We gathered again to continue the tour and two of the students on my bus were missing, yikes! One of their friends stated they were in line to get pizza but as the minutes passed, they did not show. The guide was anxious to continue the tour but students who do not arrive on time to meeting locations get in trouble with the Semester at Sea officials and lose time in port (more on this later too). The tour continued without them and after I ran around like a mad women for about 15 mins in search of these truants, they finally appeared with pizzas in hand. They did not seem to understand that if they left the tour and got lost, their lack of Russian visas would mean that they could be jailed! Ugh!

We continued the walking tour through the back streets of rich residential areas, saw the Gogol monument, meandered along the famous Nevsky Prospekt and turned the corner towards The Church of Spilled Blood. All the while, I practiced not smiling and perfecting my photography. Every sign was in Russian (even the Burger King!) but I didn’t find that to be disorientating at all. In fact, I welcomed the new modes of communication and learned “Preevyet,” the casual hello, “Spaseeba,” thank you, and “Nostrovia,” cheers! My attempts with the locals probably mirrored a grade schooler learning pronunciation, but I tried.

First day in the first port on Semester at Sea: brilliant.